Everytime a character deals bludgeoning damage, the force of their attack may push an opponent back.

Take the attacker's carrying capacity and reduce their effective strength by 15, while adding the damage inflicted to the character's effective strength.

If the attacker's effective heavy load equals the defender's weight, the defender is knocked prone and pushed back 5 feet. If the attacker's heavy load surpasses the defender's weight multiple times, add an additional 5 feet to the distance for each multiple of the defender's weight.

If the character hits a wall or other object, treat it as falling damage equal to the distance they would have been thrown.

For example...

A Balor hits a 250 lb. barbarian with its fist, dealing 9 damage. The Balor's effective strength is (35-15+9) 29. The barbarian is propelled 25 feet in the opposite direction.

Oh yeah... The Balor is a large creature... so multiply that by 4...

The Barbarian is propelled 80 feet. ...Whoops. :smallwink:

Half-blood

2008-03-12, 11:00 PM

...What? I get the gist of it. but it doesn't sound like a good idea. The barbarian wouldn't be propelled 25 feet back. think about it for a minute. punching a wall, or a giant would only hurt your hand.

A Matrix D20 game (and that is the movie that inspired me to whip this up) would greatly benefit from this sort of thing. Same with Naruto D20.

And apart from that size-category difference I forgot to include, it isn't too tremendously outrageous. You need at least 16 strength to 'punch' a 40 pound object (with no hardness/damage reduction) 5 feet. Considering 10 is the average for a human, and 14 is usually the highest on an 'elite' array...

Stycotl

2008-03-13, 12:19 AM

has some cool potential. system needs working out. but cool.

mroozee

2008-03-13, 01:06 AM

If you want a Matrix-like knockback effect, how about something simpler?

Any creature struck by a bludgeoning weapon must make a Fort Save (DC = Damage - Size Modifier*). The creature struck is knocked back 5' for every Size Modifier* it missed its Fort Save by.

*Size Modifiers are 0 for Fine, 1 for Diminutive, 3 for Tiny, 6 for Small, 10 for Medium, 15 for Large, 21 for Huge, 28 for Gargantuan, and 36 for Colossal. Note: Fine creatures are knocked back 10' for each point they were short of the Save DC.

Example:
Carlyle, a 12th level Orc Barbarian, has a Fort Save of 16. He is clobbered with a bludgeoning weapon for 67 points of damage (after subtracting DR). After making his massive damage save, he rolls a Fort Save (DC = 67 - 10 = 57) for knockback. His roll of 6 adds to his 16 for a total of 22. He missed the Save by 33. Since he is medium sized, he is knocked back 15 feet (33/10 = 3 x 5').

If Carlyle were large, the DC would be 67-15 = 52 and missing by 30 would be divided by 15 for 2 x 5' or 10' of knockback.

If Carlyle were small, the DC would be 67-6 = 61 and missing by 39 would be divided by 6 for 6 x 5' or 30' of knockback.

For Extra Matrix action, you can give the victim a second save (Reflex) with DC = Distance traveled to remain standing (I'm picturing Robin from the Teen Titans cartoon getting knocked back and sliding rather than falling prone).

The mechanics can be tweaked to fit your campaign's level of Matrixocity.